Our annual Christmas picnic

Our hiking club had its annual C'mas picnic on Saturday, our coldest day yet this season. I dreaded the hike, the weather, and yet it turned out so well.

I couldn't find my camera, though. What did I do with it? I remember I had it in my bag--I think--before going to school, but I also remember--I think--taking out the camera before going into the school since I don't photograph students. I searched in my van, my SUV..it's nowhere. So I have no photos of the get-together that brought people together I haven't seen since our car-camp in the Arizona White mountains in 2008.

I left without Sadie, not wanting to expose her to the cold weather.

I got to our meeting place, the old Fairbank historic site, at 9:15am, 15 minutes too late. The group had already taken off. Only Steve and Jim were still in the parking lot. I joined them for a good 30 minute chat, then went inside to the museum to look around. I was dressed for an arctic adventure and I was warm, and during the day it warmed enough to be comfortable in my extra layers.

So, I ended up chatting for an hour, then resting in my truck the second hour until the others got back from their hike. There were five dogs on this hike and they all looked like they had fun! I had been feeling sleepy and could have taken a nap for a while; I just didn't have any energy in me.

My voice, however, was feeling normal and for the first time in a week I could swallow without feeling pain.

Carol, one of the attendees, asked me if I thought I had the swine flu, as one of the alleged symptoms was a dry, unproductive cough. Hmm. I did cough a lot this week...but I never had the high fever or the stomach cramps. But could I have been one of the many undocumented swine flu cases?

We all started eating by noon, and my Swiss cheese Spaetzle, one of my favorite German dishes, was well received. There was so much food, though, that only half of my dish was eaten. I dug into some of the Southwestern dishes. There was plenty of chicken from Fry's which Steve picked up an hour before, for everyone.

We discussed upcoming hikes and were able to fill in the next quarter's hikes, but by 2pm we all up and left. It had been a long morning, but a productive morning, and I returned home with a sore throat coming back yet again. I had been feeling fine all morning, too.